1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to integrated circuit (IC) fabrication processes and, more particularly, to a surface-normal infrared optical path structure and corresponding fabrication method.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are many applications for photodetection in the near infrared region (the wavelength between 0.7 micron to 2 microns), such as in fiber-optical communication, security, and thermal imaging. Although III–V compound semiconductors provide superior optical performance over their silicon (Si)-based counterparts, the use of Si is desirable, as the compatibility of Si-based materials with conventional Si-IC technology promises the possibility of cheap, small, and highly integrated optical systems.
Silicon photodiodes are widely used as photodetectors in the visible light wavelengths due to their low dark current and the above-mentioned compatibility with Si IC technologies. Further, silicon-germanium (Si1-xGex) permits the photodetection of light in the 0.8 to 1.6 micron wavelength region.
However, the SiGe alloy has larger lattice constant than the Si lattice, so film thickness is a critical variable in the epitaxial growth of SiGe on Si substrates. While a thick SiGe is desirable for light absorption, too thick of a SiGe film causes a defect generation that is responsible for dark currents. This critical SiGe thickness is dependent upon the Ge concentration and device process temperature. Higher Ge concentrations and higher device process temperatures result in the formation of thinner SiGe film thicknesses. In common practice, the SiGe critical thickness is in the range of a few hundred angstroms, to maximum of a few thousand angstroms. Once the SiGe thickness is grown beyond its critical thickness, lattice defects in SiGe are inevitable. As mentioned above, an IR photo detector built from a SiGe film with lattice defects generates large dark currents and noise.
Quantum efficiency is a measure of the number of electron-hole pairs generated per incident photon, and it is a parameter for photodetector sensitivity. Quantum efficiency is defined as:η=(Ip/q)/(Popt/hν) 
where Ip is the current generated by the absorption of incident optical power Popt at the light frequency v.
FIG. 1 is a graph showing the relationship between quantum efficiency and the percentage of Ge in a SiGe film. One of the key factors in determining quantum efficiency is the absorption coefficient, α. Silicon has a cutoff wavelength of about 1.1 microns and is transparent in the wavelength region between 1.3 to 1.6 microns. The SiGe absorption edge shifts to the red with an increasing Ge mole fraction and is shown in FIG. 1. The absorption coefficient of any SiGe alloy is relatively small and the limited thickness dictated by the critical thickness further limits the ability of SiGe films to absorb photons.
As noted above, the major goals of SiGe-based photodetection are high quantum efficiency and the integration of these SiGe photodetectors with the existing Si electronics. One way to increase the optical path, and improve the quantum efficiency, is to form the optical path in the same plane as the SiGe film, along the substrate surface in which the SiGe is deposited. Thus, light propagates parallel to the heterojunction (SiGe/Si) interface. However, this optical path design necessarily limits the design of IR detectors.
It would be advantageous if an efficient SiGe IR photodetector could be fabricated having an optical path that need not be formed in parallel with a Si substrate surface.